The Missouri Supreme Court Commission on Racial and Ethnic Fairness is meeting across the state to discuss with the public how it feels race and ethnicity might affect the outcomes of trials and sentencing.
Lawyers and judges on the committee are looking into racial disparity throughout the court system that some feel starts before people are even arrested, and continues from how people are charged and assigned an attorney, to how the trial and sentencing go.
"There are still some issues we need to address," explained Kansas City attorney, Willis Toney. "People still have concerns, especially minority people, they do not believe they are being fairly represented or that their issues are being addressed. We still have to work on that a little more."
By hearing from the public, the committee hopes it can create a fairer system.
"The heart of it is to not have situations like what happened in Ferguson," explained Toney. "To not have people feel disenfranchised. To have everyone believe that when they go to court they will have equal justice."
The participating attorneys and judges will analyze the information they received and then make recommendations to the Missouri supreme court.
"You don't want to pass rules that affect the public having some input in it," he said. "You want the public to be able to say 'hey, this is how this is going to affect me, before you pass that rule, why don't you see what affect this will have on me.'"
There are two more meetings:
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ST. LOUIS
Tuesday, March 7, 2017, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Saint Louis University School of Law
100 North Tucker Street, St. Louis, MO, 63101
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SPRINGFIELD Tuesday, March 14, 2017, 5:30 – 7 p.m.
Missouri State University, Plaster Student Union, Traywick Parliamentary Room
1110 E. Madison Street, Springfield, MO, 65897
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Terra Hall can be reached at terra.hall@kshb.com.
